


Thestreals and Thunderbirds

by The_Dark_Enchantress_Ruhi



Series: Harry Potter One Shots [30]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Family, Gen, Humor, also ginny cannot. and i mean CANNOT say no to Luna, auror!ginny, i blame QLFC for making me write the Western genre, im sorry about this whole fic dont take it too seriously, the three go to america, theres a thunderbirb egg!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-28 04:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30134298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dark_Enchantress_Ruhi/pseuds/The_Dark_Enchantress_Ruhi
Summary: In which Ginny, Luna, and Charlie travel to America to drop a Thunderbird egg home.
Relationships: Charlie Weasley & Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley
Series: Harry Potter One Shots [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566190





	Thestreals and Thunderbirds

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season Eight.  
> Round : Round Four—We’re Going On An Adventure!  
> Team : Puddlemere United  
> Position : Captain  
> Task : Western  
> Word Count : 1664
> 
> A/N : I know exactly nothing about the terrain and/or fauna, and the slangs of America, and my experience and knowledge of the Western genre is as close to naught as you can get. I’m already sorry.

“Remind me again why we’re here?” Ginny grumbles, removing dried twigs tangled in her hair. Charlie laughs behind her while Luna smiles up at her in that sweet way she is wont to doing. The girl can make her melt, really. 

“Because you love me,” Luna states matter-of-factly, turning about her heel and continuing forward. Her long braid brushes over Ginny’s hand. 

“And me,” Charlie supplies from behind her, still grinning. Ginny huffs and continues walking behind Luna quietly, the way they have been doing ever since they Apparated into the forest in the middle of nowhere of America. That had been at least three hours ago. Now, at least, they are out of the creepy forest and into some sort of a deserted plain with dried bushes and grass everywhere. Deserted, except for that bug that Ginny had found crawling up her arm. Now she is paranoid that every single thing that brushes against her is a disgusting insect. The heat, to top it all off, is  _ sweltering.  _

“Luna,” she says tentatively after a while. “You’re sure we’re going in the right direction, right honey?”

“All directions on a sphere are the right directions, love,” is the entirely unconvincing reply she gets.

She sighs.  _ She,  _ out of all three of them, should’ve known better. After all, it is she who is an auror. She is the responsible one. And yet, here they are, on their way to Arizona on foot, from the middle of absolute nowhere. 

* * *

  
  


They’ve been walking for at least another two hours before the stars start to come out and a dark blue colour begins seeping into the sky. 

Luna stops suddenly and Ginny almost runs into her. 

“Look over there,” she says, squinting., pointing into the distance where a two story building is  _ just  _ visible. “I think it might be a hotel or a lodge. We should try it.”

Ginny looks at Charlie first, for confirmation, and then turns back to Luna. “Are you sure? I mean … it could be that Mirage thing you had told us about, which you see if you've been walking for too long without help?” 

“It could be …” Charlie says, “but I see it too. Come on.” 

The building does turn out to be a lodge. It seems to be deserted except for the owners, an unassuming couple with a cute dog and a beautiful horse, and who like wearing the mostgarish of hats. Ginny is pretty sure they are muggles. 

Anyway, they cannot take risks right now, not with the delicate weight they are carrying, and not in a foreign country they have entered illegally. They set their bags down gently, and Luna opens her own to reveal an egg the size of her palm. The egg is wrapped up in several fabrics to avoid any mishaps and to make it easier to carry. Its shell is currently a cool blue, although it had been bright orange in the afternoon.

“Now I’m more certain than ever that this egg is of a Thunderbird,” Charlie says as they put the egg down on the floor. “It changes colour according to the weather.”

“I wish we were able to find its mother, the poor thing will need her so badly,” Luna sniffs, “but we know it needs to be left alone in the wilderness so that it becomes resilient.” She leans back so her head is resting against the side of a bed. “I just wish we find the Thunderbird colony soon. If this egg finds its way into the wrong hands …”

All three of them hear the unmistakable ‘click’ of the door at the same time, and Ginny jumps, wand in her hand in an instant. However, no one comes in, nor does any sound come from outside. Whoever had been eavesdropping on them was gone.

“We should probably take turns in sleeping,” Charlie says, voice grim as he grips his own wand. He is perhaps the most invested in returning the egg to where it belongs — he was, after all, the one who had found it when it was being smuggled in barely legal pubs. The two of them nod. Ginny isn't so sure anymore if the owners of the lodge are muggles. 

* * *

  
  


They get about four hours of sleep each before they are out of the lodge and ready to move. Ginny supposes they should've waited until they had crossed a few miles before lowering their guard. The stunner sent their way catches them off guard, but not for too long—war has made them agile enough. 

There are four of them, all on foot like them, all wearing the same obnoxious hats the owners had been wearing — cowboy hats. They send stunners after stunners at them, and the three send as many jinxes as they can while they dodge. Their assailants finally relent when they hear a strange flapping and galloping sound.

“Sir!” a voice calls from overhead, “Ma’ams.” There are about five of them above them in the sky, riding thstreals with their wands in their hands. These wizards too, are wearing cowboy hats. “We will ask you to put your wands in the air,” they say, “and don’t try to evade or attack.” 

The three look at each other, then do as the thstreal riders ask. They land on the ground before them with a quiet thud.

“Are y’all aware that this is a strict no-magic zone as per the MACUSA guidelines? You have violated a strong law. We’re going to have to take y’all in custody.”

* * *

After a certain point in their interrogation it is pretty clear that their only escape would be to break out. The auror authorities are asking too many questions that they cannot answer, and under no circumstances can they let them know about the Thunderbird egg. If a ministry found them … who knows what they’ll do to the poor creature, especially one that they think is dangerous. 

Getting out of the Ministry is laughingly easy, Ginny realizes, if you have the right things. Her interrogator has left her robes behind in the room. It takes Ginny about a minute to pull the robe on and about another to slip out of the cell, her bag shrunk and stowed away in the pocket. No one gets suspicious that she goes to Luna and Charlie. They slip out of the ministry before anyone can realize that they are gone. 

“That wizard said we were in Texas, right?” Charlie says once they are fairly far away from the ministry. Ginny and Luna nod. Charlie grins. “Great, I know a place where we can go.”

It is perhaps an hour later that they arrive at what appears to be a farm at the outskirts of a city. “One of my dragon-keeper friends in Romania started their own farm here. They breed magical creatures and tend to them.” 

“Are you sure they’ll help us though?” Ginny asks nervously, eyes darting around the premise. Fun as it was to break out from the ministry, she would not want to do so again.

“Of course.”

The farm is filled with magical creatures of different sorts, though most stay away from them. A curious niffler or bowtruckle would occasionally make appearances. 

“Wow,” Charlie’s friend says. “A thunderbird? And you're transporting it illegally?”

They nod, not as excited as the former dragon keeper himself. “You know what this reminds me of,” he says as he leads them towards what looks like a stable. “That dragon we rescued from your little brother in Hogwarts. Norbert!” He grins and Charlie has to grin back. The shenanigans those three used to be up to. They are probably happy with the relatively boring life they now have. 

When they finally enter the stables, they are greeted with thestreals instead of horses. Well groomed, well fed and strong. 

“You should take these. They’ll be easier to travel with, and they’ll cut time.”

“We do need to cut time,” Luna says before anyone can say anything. She opens her bag to show the crack running through the egg. The egg also feels warm. It’s colour has changed to red now.”

“Oh no,” Charlie mutters under his breath. “We need to go now!”

He turns to his friend. “Thanks for all the help, mate. We’ll return the thestreals—” 

“Of course! You've helped me a lot before. Don't worry about these kids. They know their way.”

* * *

By the time the thestreals land them in the heart of the desert, the egg has cracked even more, and it feels too hot to touch properly. All around them, on the highest mounds are the huge nests of Thunderbirds. Looking straight up, it is easy to see at least five of the circling above.

“We should put this in one of the nests. Maybe the mother will take it in?” Luna says, holding the egg carefully. 

“Yeah,” Charlie nods. He begins climbing into a nest carefully, egg in hand. Several times he slips, the sand not able to support him. When he reaches into it, he places the egg amongst others which are glowing orange-yellow. Before a Thunderbird can see him, he jumps out of the nest and into the sand. The tree of them climb their thestrals hastily as the huge birds begin swooping down into their nests. 

“Maybe we should circle around for a while?” Ginny suggests, “see how it goes.”

The egg cracks further as a beam of light shines from it. The mother Thunderbird caws excitedly. The light dulls, then returns with more force as the egg cracks fully, a small creature with fluffy red feathers caws around the nest with the mother, wh preens at the newborn Thunderbird, stretching its wings and feeding it.

“Are you crying, Charlie?” Ginny asks with wide eyes as she sees her brother swipe at his eyes.

“No! No, of course not, I just …” he looks at her smiling face beside Luna’s, both whose eyes are shining too. “Yes.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Please review :)


End file.
